Day 191 – Hear me…

We want to be heard. It’s a yearning of our heart, if we are honest with ourselves. 

Here’s a simple test of your desire to be heard…when you are frequently interrupted by another in conversation, how do you feel? Or worse, when you are ignored, how do you react? 

One of my core beliefs is that we each have a unique voice that we need to discover, clarify, build and lean into in work and in life. A voice that has an important contribution to make, possibly one that can change lives. This is especially true for those of us in leadership. 

Yet in our increasingly noisy, urgent, and disruptive world the gift to actually be heard is rare. 

And it can be life-changing, especially for those who are hurting. 

We can help each other to hear and be heard. How? Here are a few of my PA’s: 

• Slow down. 
• Be With. 
• Tune into another like an animal being stalked. 
• Listen to what is said. Listen for what is not said. 
• Double-listen (thanks, Gu!).
• Seek first to understand…Tell me more. 
• Don’t rush to judge. 
• Don’t rush to fix, either (please!). 
• Give another the gift of space to vent, to be heard, to process in a safe space. 
• Be trusted with what was shared in confidence. 

This is one of the highest privileges we enjoy as Builders. We treasure and honor this privilege our clients give us. And we do this for one another. Every Friday at Band practice and in every connection between. We hear one another. It is a gift. 

I’ll riff on Chet’s closing challenge as we wrap up the Build Your Optimism chapter in BBTL:

• Who on your team needs the gift of being heard? 
• Who in your life is asking you to ‘hear me’?

Don’t miss the opportunity to respond. It might be a life-changing encounter waiting to happen.